


Came to the Wrong House

by TheAnonymoux



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Ghosts, Haunted House, Horror, M/M, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-02-27 02:41:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18730087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAnonymoux/pseuds/TheAnonymoux
Summary: Commission for bbbuuu on inkbunnySummary - Character 1 and Character 2 decide to investigate an allegedly haunted house. Things get twisted when they realize the ghost haunting the place is a thousand year old sex slave owner.Character 1 - SonicCharacter 2 - Knuckles (oh no)





	1. Chapter 1

**Came to the Wrong House**

"This is a bad idea," the ruby red guardian was saying, scowling as he ducked under a swinging branch. He looks at the blue back of the hero in front of him, noticing the sticks and stones caught in his sharp, cobalt quills. He chuckles under his breath, causing one of those blue ears to swivel back towards him as they continued their trek.

"I'm sure they're just rumors, Knux," Sonic replied ducking under another low branch. "We'll just go there, look around, and then let the people in Aurora know that the place really isn't haunted."

The echidna guardian shakes his head exasperatedly, stepping over a deep mud muddle. "How many ghosts do we have to fight for you to realize they  _are_ actually a problem?"

Sonic shrugs, pushing aside some large, dried leaves, stopping to hold them back for the ruby male. "I mean, you have more issues with ghosts than I do," he grins, making the echidna roll his eyes. "Even if there are ghosts there, it's not like we can't handle them, right?"

"Sure, you say that now," Knuckles mutters, before the two look forward to see an old path cutting through the thick woods.

Sonic lets out a satisfied hum and skips over, feet kicking up gravel and tiny rocks. "It's about time we found a path! Who knew Spagonia had such a freakish jungle right next to it!"

Knuckles frowns, noticing that all the plant life around them looked...dead and dried. Almost as if it were winter. "You see this?" he asks, lifting up a large leaf gently with one of his giant mitts. "Everything looks sick."

Sonic frowns, noticing it himself as his emerald eyes scanned all around them. The trees had dark, almost black looking bark, and anything that should be green was either brown, black, or a pale yellow. The air here was chilly, but not anything to kill all the plants like this.

"Alright, yeah that's a little weird," he mumbles, as Knuckles walks up beside him. "Let's just keep going and find this house. We have to be close."

Knuckles nods and the two take off at a light speed, not wanting to trip or hit or fall in anything dangerous. The locals had warned of sinkholes, since the ground was so moist all the time. The area was located at the bottom of two large hills; on the east side was Spagonia, and on the west side was a smaller town called Aurora. A thick forest covered the deep valley in the center, where the supposed haunted house was. The two heroes had been called on by the people in Aurora, because apparently the ghosts were starting to kidnap people and go into the town. The people in Spagonia were starting to get worried, and since Sonic had a personal attachment to the place, he couldn't refuse to help in any way he could. Since Knuckles had experience in fighting ghosts and exploring through tough terrain, he brought him too.

"This is still a bad idea," the echidna mutters to himself, causing a blue ear to twitch in bitter amusement.

The two run through the thick woods for a short few minutes, before the trees start clearing and the two heroes skid to a stop, eyes widening at the sight of a large, old house, mobian-built.

"There really is a house here," Sonic whistles, crossing his arms. "It's pretty cold here."

Knuckles puts a hand on his hip, watching the hedgehog bristle, frowning. "It is. I don't like it, Sonic. We shouldn't get involved in something like this."

The cobalt hog frowns, his left foot tapping lightly. "We can't just not try and fix this," he says, sounding offended. "If that ghost is kidnapping people, we gotta stop it."

The emerald guardian sighs, shaking his head. Damn Sonic and his sense of righteousness. "I know, but is there anything we can do about it? You can't beat  _all_ ghosts away."

The hero shrugs. "I need to try. I'm sure there's something we can do. It's worth those peoples' lives, right?"

Knuckles shakes his head again, closing his eyes. He really wanted to say that no, it wasn't worth it, but decided against it. Sonic would get mad and that would only lead to an argument.

 _He'll have to learn the hard way,_ he thinks to himself, opening his eyes to watch Sonic start slowly heading towards the creepy house.

The steps are made of creaking wood, plants curling up in between the cracks and holes where rusted nails fell through, the dark surface of the wood and entire house dark with a foreboding feeling to it. There were many windows, some boarded shut while others were blacked out, only white curtains slightly visible if the lighting was right. Knuckles thinks that they should have come here earlier in the day. The sun would be setting soon, which meant they would be here through the night. He pushes the thought to the forefront of his mind, knowing that if ghosts did anything, it would definitely be at night.

Sonic notices that the front door is missing it's handle, leaving a small hole in the wooden surface. He lifts a hand up and gently pushes the door open, feeling a sad sense of deja vu when it reminded him of the last haunted house he explored in, but last time he was with a different friend… He steps in and makes room for Knuckles to follow, the two using the light from outside to take in their surroundings.

The front hall was huge, with a large spiral staircase leading up to their right, and a sitting area to the left. A fireplace was along the one wall, and on the far back wall were large glass windows that had long ago shattered and were left there in broken pieces. The room was a beige color, with a brown chair rail all the way around it and hardwood floors that had moss and weeds growing through it. Didn't this place have a basement somewhere? Sonic frowned to himself. He could have sworn the locals said there was a basement, so it must not be below this part of the house if there was dirt under the foundation and plants growing through.

There was a door beside the fireplace, leading into from where they were standing looked like a kitchen. There were two more doors along the wall behind the staircase, and looking up they could see the steps leading up to a half floor in the house, which acted as a hallway and balcony in the front hall. They could see bookshelves and doorways up there, and exchanging looks, they wonder where they should go first.

"Let's explore one floor at a time, and stick together," Knuckles states, not wanting to make room for any other suggestions. They couldn't afford to separate in a place like this. For all they know, this could somehow be an Eggman trap, and if there really were ghosts, then they had to be extremely cautious. Only Chaos knew  _what_ kind of people those could be, especially if they're kidnapping innocents.

"Sounds good," Sonic shrugs, and Knuckles thanks Gaia for the hero's cooperation.

They walk through the front hall, eyeing the dusty, broken couches and smashed tables. There was a large china cabinet along the back wall, next to a bookshelf filled with tomes. Knuckles watched Sonic walk right over to the books, raising a brow. He supposed if they were going to find any information, it would be in those.

Sonic pulls one of the books down, dusting it off. The covers were so worn you couldn't even see the name on it anymore. He flips it open, frowning at the blank pages. What a waste of perfectly good books… At least these ones weren't portals to other dimensions.

Knuckles checks out the broken back door, frowning at how dark it was getting outside. They really shouldn't be here this late, but they were already all the way out here, and getting back would take far too long. He sighs and turns back to look over at Sonic, who had given up on the bookshelf with a disappointed look on his face. He raises a brow at the blue hero, wondering why he looked so ticked. "What's up?"

Sonic shrugs, looking away. "Nothin' much. Books are all unreadable."

 _Well, there goes that idea,_  Knuckles frowns to himself. "That's unfortunate. How old  _is_ this place?"

Sonic frowns himself. "The locals said they had no idea. This was here before they even built Spagonia."

Knuckles raises a surprised brow. "Before Spagonia? Well, that explains why the books are worn, but how is this place even standing?"

Sonic shakes his head. "Beats me. If it really is haunted, it might be more taken care of then we think."

That was a creepy thought to have, the echidna thinks. He ignores the chill that raises his fur slightly and motions for Sonic to follow him into the worn down kitchen.

Upon entering they're surprised to see that most of the cabinets are actually still put together and not busted apart or broken. There's grass growing through the floor here as well, signifying that the basement wasn't under here, either. Sonic walks through the large room, noticing that there were spots on the countertops that were dust free, as if someone had recently been here and used them. He frowns as he stops by the sink, watching a speck of water drop into the rusted metal bowl. This place still had water running through it? He turns one of the knobs and the pipes make a terrible screech and groan, before brown, murky water starts dribbling from the faucet. He smirks over at Knuckles, who was giving him a soft glare. "Thirsty?"

"Turn that off," the guardian mutters, turning back to open up a large pantry door. There was nothing inside except vines, dirt, and dust bunnies.

Sonic turns off the water and starts going through cupboards, which were all completely empty. Drawers were as well, except the one he couldn't open because it was locked.

"Help?" he asks. Knuckles walks over and grabs the handle, giving it a rough pull. It detached from the drawer with the splitting sound of wood, and Sonic laughs at the guardian's frustration. "Just punch it open!"

"That's what I was going to do," the ruby male grumbles, punching the drawer as hard as he could. The front of it cracked in half and fell to the floor, and Knuckles pulls the drawer out and the two stare in confusion and heavy discomfort.

There were old looking handcuffs and pieces of cloth inside, as well as a clear bottle of unknown liquid and gloves, next to a pair of scissors.

"That's disturbing," Sonic says flatly, before pointing at the bottle. "What is that?"

"I don't know but I wouldn't mess with it," Knuckles frowns. "This all looks fairly modern, Sonic. Old, but not old enough to be in this house. Someone must have been living here."

"Okay, but what were they doing with all this?" Sonic's eyes narrow.

He wasn't sure if Sonic was naive or simply didn't know. "It's...probably best not to think about that," he answers, making the hero's frown deepen into a scowl.

He turns away from the drawer and Sonic, and heads to the back of the room, frowning at the table. There was only one chair not broken, and the table had holes in its four corners, as if something was screwed into each corner. It didn't have any dust on it, almost like it had been used just minutes ago. That bothered him.

It was getting darker, and Knuckles took the flashlight he had out of his small backpack and flipped it on. Sonic was still looking around, seemingly not bothered by the dark.

"Another room?" the echidna asks, and Sonic nods, glancing out of the window above the sink for a second.

For a second he thought he had seen someone standing out there, but it was simply a trick of the lighting, he thinks.

Sonic follows Knuckles out of the kitchen and they head to the other side of the front hall, to the doors underneath the balcony. These, like the front door, had no door handles. Knuckles leads the way through one doorway, which lead into a long hallway with a glass door at the end leading outside to a garden.

There were five doors down this hallway and an open closet, and they start with the first room on their left. It was completely empty, save the broken wardrobe on the back wall near a window.

"Did they move out before the house was abandoned?" Sonic asks quietly, holding up a hand to light it up with blue Chaos Energy.

"Looks like it," Knuckles says quietly. "Although we haven't seen the rest of the house."

"Who would live all the way out here by themselves? It had to be a big family with how big the house is," Sonic commented, following Knuckles back out of the room and peeking into the next. It was empty as well.

"I mean, you and Tails practically live in the middle of a woods by yourselves," Knuckles smirks, making Sonic roll his eyes.

"We live in  _Knothole_ , Knux. The whole town is in the middle of the woods. This is just one house by itself in the middle of a spooky jungle."

He had a point, Knuckles thinks to himself. Knothole may be in the middle of a forest, but there were hundreds of people living there. As Sonic said, this was only one house by itself, with the closest towns being Aurora and Spagonia, about an hour away each to normal people.

Sonic was right; who would live out here like this all by themselves? Someone who didn't want attention. Someone who had a reason to hide, or something to hide. He himself lived on a floating island all by himself because he needed to protect the Master Emerald. Obviously this house was meant to hide or protect something or someone. That was the only logical explanation for it.

All of the rooms were empty down this hall, so they went back into the front hall and into the next room, which seemed to be a large office space. There were bookshelves all along the walls, a huge window at the back that overlooked the garden area, revealing that the house had a greenhouse out back, an old wooden desk with a broken chair next to it, and papers and books scattered everywhere. There were two old, worn and beyond fixing couches and a coffee table in between them, and the floor had a huge, worn down red rug in the center of it.

There was grass growing through the hardwood floor here as well, and Sonic puts his hands on his hips, pursing his lips. "I thought there was a basement?"

"Maybe it's not actually a basement, but a small space for storage or something," Knuckles shrugs. "Like I said, we haven't seen the whole house yet."

Sonic just frowns, ears folding back. It just didn't seem right. They were almost done exploring the bottom floor of the house and still no basement. The people in Aurora specifically said that that's where the ghost took his victims. Why would they say that if there really wasn't a basement?

Just like the books in the main hall, these ones were blank as well. Sonic seemed really disturbed by this for some reason, opening them and making perturbed facial expressions as he flipped through the blank pages. Knuckles found himself watching the hero out of amusement from the corner of his eye, as he went over to the desk and opened each drawer to find them all empty.

With nothing of interest in that room, they end up leaving and heading over to the next room to find the dining room. The room was huge, making up most of the floor, and was void of all furniture. Grass was growing through here as well, and Knuckles chooses to ignore the glare Sonic sent his way as he walked to the center of the room, looking around.

"I guess there's no basement, Sonic," he shrugs. "There's still the whole upstairs, though."

Sonic doesn't seem convinced by anything, and simply turns around and heads out. Following him, the echidna walks behind him as the hero leads the way over to the stairs and up them, stopping to check the books up here as well with the same obvious result.

"You like books?" Knuckles asks, pushing one of the doors open next to the bookshelf. Sonic's face reddens, and he quickly shuts the book in his hands and puts it back on the shelf.

"No," he answers almost too quickly. "Just curious to see if there's info in them regarding the house. You know, dates, newspapers...stuff like that."

He was so defensive about it… Knuckles just lets it be and heads through the doorway, into another hallway. There were more bedrooms up here as well, much to the two's surprise.

"How many people lived here?" Sonic asks out loud as they step into the first room. The rooms were empty just like the ones downstairs, windows broken with only a few with the glass still in them.

"It looks like the place could have been for an enormously large family, or a bed and breakfast," Knuckles comments. "There's no way only a single family lived here."

Sonic nods, leaning against one of the doorways. "Well, that would explain why it's kind of just here. If it was an inn or something, it could have been used for travelers who just needed a place to stay the night."

"Why shut it down, though?" Knuckles asks. "If it was useful why just close it? They had to of closed it before Aurora and Spagonia where built."

Sonic frowns, crossing his arms. "I don't know."

They head back downstairs and look around in the main hall one last time.

"There's nothing," Knuckles sighs, shaking his head. "This was a waste of time, Sonic."

The hero glares at him. "We still haven't checked outside."

* * *

It was dark out now, but with Knuckles's flashlight and Sonic's Chaos Energy, they ventured out anyway. They walked through the broken back door, taking in the sight of the garden with curious eyes. There was a greenhouse and a rotting old shed, and all the tall, strange plants were dead out here as well.

"What a charming place," Sonic joked dryly, causing Knuckles to roll his eyes.

They follow the broken stone path, Knuckles ahead as he waves the flashlight around, Sonic following with his quills tensed and raised. He was getting spooky vibes out here, and the creepy shed they were heading to didn't help matters at all.

Pushing one of the old, creaking doors open, Knuckles steps in first, peering around while waving the flashlight. The shed was two stories tall, with a bunch of farming equipment and a walkway that sufficed as a second floor with a ladder leading up to it. Sonic steps in behind him, whistling quietly as he meets the echidna's eyes, before the two begin their search of the rickety place.

"If we don't find anything after going through here, we're leaving," Knuckles spoke clearly, making Sonic look at him with a frown. "Using Chaos Control," the guardian adds.

Sonic stops in place, furrowing a brow at him. "You expect me to get us to Spagonia without a Chaos Emerald?" his voice was dry. "I haven't gotten that good at it yet, Knux."

"Well, you're going to have to do it anyway," the echidna shrugs. "Those woods are a mess, and I'm not getting lost."

Sonic follows as Knuckles turns and starts walking again, frowning at his back. "I could always just run us in one certain direction really fast until we were out in the clear."

His friend looks back at him over his shoulder with squinted eyes. "And you would accidentally kill me and then I'd be the only thing haunting these woods."

Sonic rolls his eyes. "Oh, you'd be fine."

Knuckles chooses to not argue back for the sake of the both of them and keeps walking quietly, every so often looking back to see if Sonic was still right behind him. A part of him worried that he would turn around at any second to see Sonic gone. This "haunting" could or could not be real, or it could be a trap by Eggman or someone, and to have something happen to Sonic bothered him. The one time he looked back, emerald eyes turned towards him in questioning, ear quirking. He had to shrug it off, not wanting to seem weird or awkward about it.

He really liked these missions with the blue hero, no matter how gruesome the task was or how much they bickered. It got him off his island and gave him a reason to be closer to the one and only person he trusted and called his friend. His desire to want to go on these missions and be around Sonic only grew the more time he spent with him. The damn bat that liked to fly around his island even commented on it, saying it was almost as if someone had a crush on someone…

He shakes those thoughts from his head, hoping his light blush wasn't noticeable in the dark. She was wrong, of course he told himself. Sonic was his best friend, and you can't have crushes on your best friends...right? Sonic...most likely wouldn't feel the same way in return anyway, and it would only ruin their friendship. Sonic would not want to spend time with him and then he'd be alone again…

Why was he thinking this? This wasn't the time for such thought. He checks back on Sonic again, who had stopped to examine a gardening table with all kinds of dirt, pots, and tools on it. The light was shining through the holes in the roof, perfectly reflecting off of Sonic's blue fur and giving him an almost elegant aura. Knuckles felt his face darken, and he scowls inwardly at himself.

He most certainly did  _not_ have a crush on Sonic.

He refused to believe it. It was just a faze.

He'd get over it.

Sonic was just...attractive, both physically and personality wise, so lighthearted, yet so caring, charming, flirtatious, entertaining, exciting…

He was practically a magnet that naturally affected all the people around him, making them fall for him and find him lovable in every way.

So of course he would go through a faze, and only just a faze, nothing more.

He didn't feel anything other than friendship for him.

As he sat, trying to convince himself.

He shakes his head once more, turning away to shine his flashlight above him at the walls going up. He really needed to stop letting these thoughts get to him when he was on these missions. They were starting to become a bother.

A sudden metal clang made him jump, and he whips around, visibly startled, before glaring at the blue hedgehog who looked guilty as all hell.

"What did you do?" he asks, to which Sonic smiles shakily.

"Accidentally bumped something off the table. Sorry!"

Oh, he's lucky he's so cu-

He shakes  _that_ thought out of his head faster than he could blink, hoping his face wasn't glowing pink. "Try not to do shit like that again," he mutters, turning back around. Sonic would take his anger as not liking being scared, when it was actually him being mad at himself for losing to his thoughts like that.

He hears Sonic mumble another apology quietly under his breath, and he calms down some. He hoped he didn't sound too snappy with him. He didn't want to hurt his feelings.

...and since when? Since when did he care so much about Sonic's feelings?

He felt like was losing his mind.

Sonic watches him turn a corner made from the tractor in the middle of the room, blue ears bent back. He could understand being snappy because he was startled, but this wasn't an unusual occurrence, at least as of late. Knuckles was starting to snap on him more and more lately, and it was starting to worry him. Did the echidna not like being around him? He thought it would be better for him to get off the island and go on adventures, but lately it seemed as if Knuckles found these adventures annoying.

Or maybe he just found Sonic annoying…

With a deeper frown, the blue hero turns back to the table, opening drawers on its sides for anything of interest. He frowns when he comes across a large key, turning it over in his hands. It was old and rusty, with an elegant insignia made of flowers for a small handle. It didn't look like it would go to any machine or door, so it had to be for some kind of chest or something similar. He decides to hold on to it, figuring it wouldn't hurt to keep in case they needed it.

"There's nothing in here," Knuckles suddenly speaks up, slightly startling him. He turns to see the guardian heading back over to him, shrugging.

"Well, there's the greenhouses," Sonic offered. "We can check those I guess."

As Sonic turns around to head towards the exit, and Knuckles opens his mouth to reply, a sudden rumble thunders inside the shed. Both males crouched down, holding onto the shaking ground for dear life, eyes wide.

"An earthquake  _here?"_  Sonic exclaims, and before either of them can confirm or deny it, the ground is suddenly crumbling beneath them, and they're falling.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Fanfiction Commission for bbbuuu (inkbunny)** _

_**Summary -** _ _Character 1 and Character 2 decide to investigate an allegedly haunted house. Things get twisted when they realize the ghost haunting the place is a thousand year old sex slave owner._

_**Character 1 -** _ _Sonic_

_**Character 2 -** _ _Knuckles (oh no)_

* * *

**Came to the Wrong House**

**PART TWO**

The unnerving sound of trickling water awakens the cobalt hedgehog. His ear twitches, swiveling back and forth. He then tries to open his eyes. Oh great, he thinks, finding himself blindfolded. The question was, by whom?

"Knuckles?" he calls out, hoping to hear an answer.

He got nothing in return.

There was something wrapped around his arms and torso, and his hands were bound behind his back around some kind of pole. He pulls them forward only to hear the sound of chains against metal, and there is tension as he then attempts to pry his hands apart...

Handcuffs?

He suddenly recalls the items from the kitchen drawer and his mind begins to spiral.

"Knuckles?" he tries again, and for a second time no one answers. "Shoot." He was really starting to get worried, wondering what could have possibly happened to him.

A faint giggle causes the azure hero to seize, and his ears to perk forward. The fur on the back of his neck stands on end, and there is suddenly the chilling feeling that something was closing in on him. The only way he could describe it was like a frozen sheet of spider webs slowly shrouding him in a sticky obnoxious way with no means of being able to get rid of it; a horrible feeling he couldn't shake, for sure.

Before he can ask who's there, a pair of ice cold hands cup the hedgehog's fawn muzzle causing him to gasp in surprise.

"My my," a voice speaks, seductively feminine and slow, "You're quite the handsome fellow, I must say." Whoever it was had quite the accent. It sounded… old. Not like,  _eldery_. No, more like how someone would speak from olden times.

Sonic's brows knit together. "Who are you?"

The entity hums in return, cheerfully. "Who I am does not matter." One hand pulls back from his face and suddenly runs down a cobalt leg from the knee to inner thigh as it brushes up the poor hog's groin, just grazing the sensitive pouch; something that concealed his hidden member. "How I am willing to please you should..."

With a red face, the flustered boy begins to kick aggressively. What he doesn't realize is that his moves are ineffective as they faze through the spirit.

She grimaces, (not like he could see it) and backs off. "I reckon those strong legs of yours usually come in handy as powerful as they are, yet…I wonder if I should trade them for stronger arms…"

Sonic's blood runs cold as he immediately realizes what she's talking about. "Leave him alone!" he threatens, teeth baring.

"Oh?" The horrible icy feeling returns as she closes in on his ear, causing him to shiver violently from head to toe. "Why should I? You wish so badly to see him. I  _wonder…_ "

He swallows spit.

She whispers, "...if your friend wants to see you again too…"

Then she's gone.

Sonic now realizes how dire the need is to escape and tries to, pulling on the handcuffs with little to no room to wiggle and free himself with. What about Knuckles? Was he even wherever the heck he was too? "Knuckles!" he tries again, louder this time.

Alas, there was nothing.

* * *

The red echidna lay on a bed, opening his eyes partially and closing them slowly. He does this a few times, fighting sleep. He couldn't speak, and his mouth was dry. Why was he so tired? He could hear Sonic, or what he thought was Sonic…but was it? He doesn't know. It sounds distant and echoey. Everything was so blurry, and the lights above confused him. Were they bulbs or candle flames? Where was he? His eyes won't open anymore. So tired...

"Big red! Are you out there?" Sonic calls out once again.

Said guardian feels a bit strange all of a sudden, and soon there is something cold touching his face. As he forces his eyes to open the best they can, he comes face to face with something blurry and white with two golden orbs staring back at him. His heavy lids force his eyes to close again, and he just lays there.

Curious fingertips run over his nose and slide down his parted lips. They continue to trail downward, feeling across his sculpted torso and toward his waist. Another hand joins the first as they fan outward to mold around his sides and grab onto his hips. This earns the entity a weak moan, and she cannot believe what he says after that.

"Sonic?"

Golden eyes widen.

Oh, this was  _too_ good.

The ghost glances back across the dark room to where the hedgehog had been tied to a pole that ran from the floor to the rickety ceiling. She smirks devilishly.

"Knuckles!" Sonic cries out, happy to hear a response at last. "Are you okay?"

When Knuckles doesn't respond, the ghost does for him, using the echidna's voice after only hearing it once. "I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine," Sonic says with growing concern.

She thinks of what to say as she glances back at the crimson male. Maybe if she just played along she could hit two birds with one stone. The tricky part was figuring out how to do so…

The cobalt sat there for another moment, waiting for red to respond.

Meanwhile, it became evident to the spirit that there was something between the two, and she seems to figure this out rather quickly. She could feel it; the tension, the longing, the love for one another. It was all there, but what to do about it?

Sonic continues to struggle in his binds. He grunts a few times as he pulls and yanks on the ropes holding him, but to no avail. He gives up and presses the back of his head against the pole, feeling his quills move slightly before getting a bright idea.

He lets his quills bristle, sharpening just enough to cut at the cloth and tear through enough to allow it to fall from his eyes. Just as he manages to open them, he is greeted by the horrifying sight of her pale white face. He only gets a glimpse of her stunningly sharp yellow eyes and wicked smile before something presses up against his mouth and his vision starts to blur when he tries to inhale. Emerald eyes roll into the back of their owner's head, and he's out.

* * *

For a moment, Sonic comes back to consciousness as he feels himself being dragged across what he can only image was the floor. He only manages to open his eyes enough to see the shadows on the ceiling. After a few brief moments of mumbling incoherent questions, he blacks out again.

* * *

When he comes to, he's lying on a bed, Knuckles next to him. He sits up and lifts his head as he looks around, noticing a strange purple bubble completely surrounding the bed. "What?" Still handcuffed, he turns around a full three-sixty degrees using his feet.

What was going on now?

...and…

He glances over to the guardian who was still asleep, and something shiny catches his eye. It was something purple and shining like glitter wrapping around his friend's wrist. Why was he wearing a bracelet? Was he wearing that before?

" _Impressive, isn't it?"_  a voice interrupts.

Sonic jumps. His eyes narrow in on the problem. "You!"

"I?" the ghost inquires as she steps forth from the shadows. Her looks were rather interesting: Skin a luminescent white with two glowing golden orbs for eyes, and freakishly long black hair that almost touched the ground.  _"What about you?"_

The hedgehog thinks about the question, confusion written all over his face. "What about me?"

" _Naive_. I like that. You don't know his secrets, do you?"

"Secrets?" Sonic asks, taking the bait.

She snaps her fingers and the echidna laying next to him begins to stir. His face heats up, and his back suddenly arches.

Sonic's eyes widen as he watches his friend moan and move about where he lay. His mouth parts open and his brows raise. It looks as if he's dreaming. Was he in trouble? The hero blushes as he hears the echidna starting to call out his name. At first it was quiet and almost innocent, and then became more evidently needy as he got louder.

Inevitably, he's forced to watch his comrade having what appears to be a wet dream, something Sonic mistakes for a nightmare.

He wants to shake him awake.

The witch-like spirit laughs before pressing her large chest against the forcefield, letting her long purple tongue fall down to her chin, then licking it upward slowly against the smooth surface.

Sonic cringes as he watches her do this and scowls.

She makes her move. "I don't need magic to tell you how he feels about you."

He wants to question it, but she's now staring at the sleeping echidna with a crazy look in her eyes. Who the heck was this girl, anyway?

"You better let us go," Sonic warns, glaring daggers at her, "... _or else_ …"

She pulls away from the purple bubble to run one finger along it as she walks around from the right to left side. "...and what if I don't? You shan't kill me. I am already dead! So…I have a proposition for you," she smiles.

Again, the cobalt bites. "Oh yeah?" He couldn't resist a challenge.  _Hook, line, and sinker._

"Quite. You see, I tend to feel a bit peckish when I lack the proper... _nutrients_ that I require."

Red continues to squirm next to blue.

"I ain't a snack, lady," Sonic crosses his arms in a huff. He's had enough of her talking. A large hand falls on the cobalt's lap.

"In order to free yourself, you must return his feelings. You want to escape? Give in to your desires..."

It's now apparent to him that Knuckles isn't having a nightmare.

Blue ears bend back.

Um.

Sonic glances back to Knuckles who's hand was currently inching up his leg and toward his inner thigh. He picks up the mit and places it back on the bed next to the guardian's head. "No way." Knuckles was his friend. She was trying to trick him into…

His mind trails off. She wanted them to  _what_ now?

" _So innocent,"_  she whispers to herself. "Do this, and I will keep my word… Don't, and you will earn yourself a gruesome fate," the spirit advises, backing away and fading into the darkness followed by a short giggle.

Sonic feels strong fingers graze his chest and his attention reverts back to the crimson mobian. He feels his face flush as the hand presses down on his stomach, and soon Knuckles is crawling overtop of him.

"Knux?" the hero questions, head pressing back into a pillow. This isn't good. Out of all the things that they could have fought on this adventure, they were fighting against being forced to do… _those_ things to each other...

He feels Knuckles's legs snake between his own. Sudden silence. Emeralds fall onto amethyst. Sudden heat. Muzzles linger close and mouths part open, the two taking a moment to study each other as their lips slowly close the distance between them.

Sonic doesn't understand it, but it feels good. Even though his heart was in his throat, he can't help but to enjoy the feeling and attention.

Meanwhile, Knuckles is out of his mind. He thinks this is just a good dream, and of course it feels too good to be true. His tongue intertwines with the cobalt's. A peach chest presses up into his own white crested, and a red arm loops behind the small of Sonic's back. The hog's head snaps to the left, exhaling a hot puff of air with half-lidded eyes. He needs to catch his breath. The guardian goes for the neck and chest, earning a pleasurable groan from peach lips. He nips playfully. Sonic squirms.

The spirit watches intently, reaping the energy they gave off while casting her spell upon them both.

This was the first part of her plan. Step one: loosen them up. She waves her fingers slowly in the shadows, hexing them. Unbeknownst to her victims, she uses her magic to bend and mold them to her liking. For now, the show was enough for her…but for how long?

Sonic hardly sees her there in the dark, and his strained eyes try desperately to stay open to focus on her figure.

Kisses trail down his stomach. He has to try to stop himself from crying out when a kiss exposes his hidden pouch. His haunches tense, not realizing how much he's teasing the echidna.

Said red decides to let his tongue intrude.

Green eyes close, shutting tight, and the hot hog's a mess. Sharp quills bristle out astray while cheeks burn from the heat of the moment. He'd never felt so aroused, and he could hardly say no.

Yet, there was the little subconscious thought in the back of his head that slowly made its way frontward. This wasn't supposed to happen. No, it didn't feel right. She must have been causing this.  _'This is what she wants!'_

Sonic breaks from his haze, and fights the other. His foot comes up and manages to push his friend back by the chest with it. "Knuckles, wake up," he groans, causing the echidna to snort and sit up quickly, waking up fully. Violet eyes widen. As their owner's strong hands pull back from the hedgehog, red realizes what's going on, and he's perturbed by it.

"Sonic, I-" Strong cobalt legs pull him back down.

Knuckles is interrupted by Sonic's mouth on his mouth and he's being shushed. He tries to ask what's going on, but the hero continues to kiss him, hoping to shut him up. At least Knuckles was free from the spell, but for how long? He had to get him in on it, the plan that he just made up that is.

Sonic pulls from the kiss and presses the side of his face against the echidna. "Shut up, and listen," he whispers. Knuckles holds still. "I'm going to break our new bracelets so we can get out of here. Thing is, my hands are kind of tied up at the moment."

Knuckles pulls back a little to see Sonic smiling nervously. He can't help but notice his red cheeks, and then the bracelet around his own wrist, the one he had mentioned. Taking it in his opposite hand, red is about to crush it when the ghost returns. Her face closes in on the forcefield, and she doesn't look happy.

They both turn to look at her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she advises, tsk'ing afterward with glowing yellow eyes.

The two sit up.

Sonic scowls. "What's your deal, anyway?"

"Who is that?" Knuckles questions.

"Our  _ghost_."

"I prefer the name Scarlett," she pipes in, running her nails slowly down the forcefield.

"If you wanted to kill us, you would have done it by now," Sonic goes on. He wasn't wrong. If she truly had the intent to kill, she wouldn't be wasting her time. So what was stopping her? "What is it that you  _really_ want?"

"I told you…" There was a short pause as her head tilts to the side, and she genuinely looks deep in thought. "...What I want…"

Knuckles catches her eye, and she smiles.

"...is to watch you two fulfill your fantasies…"

His face heats up.

Sonic looks away, embarrassed to think about it. He felt sick. They were best friends. There was no way Knuckles could possibly like him like that; not with the way he's been acting towards him lately. Cold shoulders and distance seemed like running themes with the guardian of the Master Emerald. Maybe he really didn't enjoy these missions with just the two of them. He couldn't even think about it without questioning it. Did…did he like him, though? He always wanted him to go on all these missions... Was it because he was useful or because he wanted the company?

Sonic closes his eyes, brooding on the subject.

"So what'll it be?" Scarlett proposes, "Sex or death?"

Knuckles balls up his fists. "Why you little-"

"Can it and just get it over with," Sonic sneers, earning a bitter look from his crimson friend.

"What?"

Sonic smiles. "Just do me," he says softly.

The two only stare at each other.

Sonic had to test his theory. He leans in and locks lips with the echidna, and the other jumps slightly in surprise. It doesn't take long before Sonic is leaning back to lay down, mouths still locked together, and Knuckles's hands slowly wrap around the hedgehog without a fight. This felt…more natural, Sonic notices. It wasn't forced like before. Maybe Knuckles actually liked him, after all.

Red breaks from the kiss to catch his breath before he feels Sonic's face close in on the side of his head.

" _Remember the plan_ ," Sonic reminds him quietly, and Knuckles nods gently before taking peach fur into his mouth and biting down a little. The cobalt yips then smiles. Maybe this won't be so bad.

 _'Why is he letting me do this to him?'_  Knuckles thinks, pulling on the skin between his teeth. He asks himself if this is a dream come true or just one really coincidental situation. He supposes everything happens for a reason, and he can't stay mad at that.

Big mits feel for the handcuffs behind Sonic's back, and manages to pull one hard enough to break it, freeing a hand. Blue's body muffles the sound of the metal snapping, and the two carry on.

The echidna's mouth finds the hedgehog's, and their tongues began to swirl around each other once more. What Knux doesn't expect is the member of his self-proclaimed best friend poking at his stomach. His eyes widen. Sonic is looking like he's totally okay with what was happening even though a creepy ghost lady was lingering right over there in the darkness getting off on all this.

If only under different circumstances…

Sonic smirks once Knuckles pushes himself up a little to look down and see it. The echidna almost panics, but the hero speaks up; "It's okay, pal."

Knuckles hesitates.

"You can do this."

Why did he have to be so good?

A shaky hand takes a hold of the hog's member, and Sonic is suddenly in heaven. His spiky back arches, and he moans out pleasurably as Knuckles jerks him off slowly.

The guardian's face was almost as red as his fur. He watches his friend melting underneath. It was all because of that stupid ghost, or at least that's what he wanted to believe. He didn't know anymore.

Sonic's eyes open partially to look up at him, and Knuckles swallows hard. He watches peach lips mouth  _'Don't stop'_ , and smile right after. Such a tease.

Two blue legs lift up, and red knees slide under their thighs.

His own erection pokes and prods beneath the hero's tail, begging for its turn.

Knuckles pleads with his eyes for lack of being able to ask him verbally, and in return Sonic nods.

The head breaks entry and slides right in about halfway then stops when a choked scream leaves peach lips.

"-Sorry!" Knuckles apologizes quickly, hoping he wasn't hurting him too bad.

Surprisingly, Sonic gets used to it fast, and chuckles quietly. "I told you not to stop, bud."

Offended, Knuckles scrunches his nose. "I'm not your bud." He pushes in all the way, and the other gasps.  _'How dare he!_ _ **Bud**_ _.'_

Strong hips pull out only to slam back in.

"So you're my boyfriend now?" Sonic inquires once he's able to catch his breath, then he's slammed into again

"What the hell are you-" and again, "-talking about?"

"Like- Ah!~" One eye closes while the other stays trained on the echidna above. "You like me, right?"

Knuckles grits his teeth. "Do we really gotta have this talk-" He thrusts into him again mid sentence. " _-right now_?!"

"I'm just-" Sonic moans out, feeling his prostate taking the blow. "- _curious_!" His voice raises as do his eyebrows.

 _Shit_ , that look was hot.

"Stop acting cute," Knuckles scolds him.

"You think I'm cute?" Sonic muses.

The ghost sits idly by, her fingers pinching the skin between her eyes. Were these two seriously having a conversation about their relationship during their first time?  _Chaos_.

Knuckles decides to go faster, aiming to enjoy this just as much as Sonic was. He just couldn't believe it. He never thought that at any given point in time would he have this opportunity.

Stars dance in their eyes, and Sonic pulls one hand out carefully from behind him to grab onto Knuckles's wrist. Feeling the bracelet between his thumb and index finger, he waits patiently for their opportunity.

After a few more minutes, the echidna's climax nears. "S-Sonic. I'm a-about to-"

One rough push, and the hedgehog screams out in ecstasy followed by a mess of sticky white liquid hitting their stomachs.

Knuckles is close too, and soon shudders when he finally caves in. His seed shoots up into the other's ass, warming him up from the inside as blue's forced to take it.

The moment red pulls out, Sonic crushes the bracelet in his hand, and then his own, causing the forcefield to crackle and disappear.

"What!?" Scarlett belts out, her hair raising up like tentacles out of sudden anger.

Knuckles gets up and cracks his namesakes while Sonic sits up and stretches.

"I feel relieved," the hero says, nonchalantly, "How about you?"

The guardian chuckles, "Yeah."

They both wipe away their mess and smile at each other. How romantic.

Their moment is destroyed when a screech bellows out, almost deafening the two. They cover their ears and look at one another before turning to watch the angry ghost heading towards them.

"You conniving bastards!" she exclaims, rising up into the air. Her hair fans out all around her as if she's underwater, and her teeth sharpened into points.

"Quick question before we throw down..." Sonic opens his arms as he sits on the edge of the bed. "Did you enjoy the show?"

He's answered with a shrill scream as she's flying towards him.

Before it was too late, a fist flies up and decks the vengeful spirit, sending her flying across the room. Knuckles puts up his fists.

"Way to go…boyfriend?" Sonic asks, and he's met with a glare.

"Don't push it."

The ghost is back, and angrier than before. Screaming, she lunges at the echidna with long, talon-looking claws. In a split second, he manages to dodge and grab her by the wrists. He starts spinning her around, using his heel as a point. Gaining enough momentum, he hurls her into the wall. When she hits, bright purple sparks shoot out and light up the wall for a moment before her body falls to the floor. As she slowly pushes herself up, she's crackling with the same spiritual electricity.

Sonic decides it's his turn, and jumps up, curling into a spin dash. With a high-pitched squeal, he bursts forward and slams into her. This causes a hefty purple explosion, and he's thrown back due to the blast. Knuckles catches him.

" _My hero_ ," the cobalt teases, making a kissy face toward him.

Violet eyes roll, and Knuckles groans before he drops him onto the ground.

Sonic shakes his head and sits up quickly, looking out toward the area where she'd last been. "She's gone?"

Knuckles squints. She didn't  _feel_  gone. If anyone knew anything about paranormal encounters, it was him. "Not quite."

"Well, we gotta find out what happened to those townsfolk, so let's get moving before she comes back."

Knuckles nods. "Right."

They both set out to venturing around the dark basement.

As much as he wanted to split up to look around, Knuckles remembers that his flashlight is MIA, and Sonic is a living one. The blue energy emits from the hedgehog's hands, and the two start investigating. "We've gotta be quick."

Sonic chortles. "You're telling me to be quick?"

"I said we," the echidna corrects as he picks up and turns over a jar with some unknown murky liquid inside.

"Aw," Sonic grins. "You did. So that means we're a thing now right?"

The flustered echidna snaps. "I said not to push it."

It was adorable how he was trying so hard to shrug it off when it was blatantly laid out on the table. It was like trying to ignore the elephant in the room. Knuckles was trying to, but Sonic's throbbing behind wouldn't let him forget.

A sudden banging catches their attention, and they spin around to look at an old bookcase.

" _Help_!" a muffled voice calls out.

"They're behind this bookshelf?" Sonic questions, wiping away the dust from one of the shelves and pinching it between his fingers to feel its grittiness.

"Did they hear us?" Knuckles asks almost too cautiously.

Sonic gives him a look. "Really dude?"

Knuckles shrugs then grabs a hold of a corner and tugs. He moves it aside easily, revealing a hidden door.

Sonic then notices the lock on it.

"It's locked," says Knuckles.

No shit. "Thanks captain obvious."

A familiarly horrible screech fills their eardrums and the guardian is knocked off his feet. When his back hits the wall, he grunts and falls to his knees.

Sonic takes action and dashes after their ghostly enchantress, but is met with the wall as well when he fazes through her and smacks into it for the lack of lighting in order to see it. He falls onto his partner and groans, rubbing his head. Knuckles shoves him off, and growls.

Scarlett slowly touches down onto the ground before creating a purple ball of light between her hands. She stretches it out into a string of spiritual electricity and sends it zapping toward them.

With no time to dodge, it captures them, pulling them together back to back. The purple light turns into physical rope. Both try to fight it, but become immobile as they sit on the floor.

"Only a fool would dare to hit a lady," she spits, her amber eyes glowing like blazing candle flames. "You should be ashamed of yourselves."

Sonic then decides to open his mouth. "Can the lecture spooky ghost lady, and get to the part where you tell us how you died and all that."

Irritated, but not so opt to deny it, she crosses her arms as she thinks. "I haven't had anyone to talk to in quite some time." She hums and lets her breasts rest overtop of them. "I suppose that because you won't make it out of here alive, I could spare some time to humor you."

Sonic sighs exasperatedly. "Finally! I've been asking for like, the whole time we've been down here."

"Let her talk then," Knuckles chimes in.

The spirit holds a hand out in front of her and projects a sphere of light, hovering just above her palm. In it, an image appears. It's the Inn.

"Over a thousand years ago, my husband and I opened up this establishment. It was a place for those who traveled near and far to stay and rest when they came through. When the village by the sea was being built, men and women came and went."

Sonic tilts his head. "Spagonia?"

Another image fazes through the first one. It was her and her alleged husband. They looked happy.

"He was a foolish man."

Welp. There goes that illusion.

"He never gave me the time of day, and never tried to. Though the poor fox was a dear, he was infertile. He could not bare me a child. After he stopped trying, I sought…other resources."

The next image appears, showing many other mobians.

"I had to, in order to feed my 'habit' as one may call it, swoon other men to do what my husband could not."

An image shows her pregnant, and her husband has an arm up, about to stab her with the knife he's holding.

"Unfortunately, my husband found out our unborn child wasn't his."

"That's terrible," Sonic speaks up.

"Indeed." She continues, letting the ball vanish, "I've been looking for the perfect mate ever since."

Knuckles squints. "You mean to tell me you want someone to get you pregnant? You do realize that-"

Sonic's head thunks the back of Knuckles's.

"Hey!" the echidna cries.

"Which one of us do you want?"

Scarlett lights up, smiling at Sonic's proposition.

Phase two of her plan was going accordingly.

"What?" Red questions.

" _My_ , you're making me choose?" the spirit asks, placing a hand to her cheek as she hovers toward them. She gets down and starts with Knuckles. The flummoxed echidna doesn't quite understand what's happening at first until she licks her lips with her purple tongue and says; "I do enjoy the thought of brute strength, but this one is too stupid."

Did she just…

The guardian was starting to get it now. "...Hey!"

She shifts to the left and floats around to the other side to get a good look at Sonic.

He smiles devilishly. "Like what you see?" His brows wiggle.

Knuckles freezes, looking perturbed.  _'He's such a-'_

"Why  _yes_."

'... _and she's-'_  Knux continues.

"Then let's go," Sonic says, and Knuckles pretty much loses his mind.

"Are you kidding me?!"

This earns a poke from Sonic's finger into the echidna's lower back. When the ghost flies back across the room to find something sharp to cut them loose, Sonic turns his head so that he can whisper without her hearing.

" _While I'm distracting her, I want you to free those guys. I can bust outta here myself._ "

 _"...and what if you can't?"_  Knuckles questions quietly. " _She's a powerful thousand year old sex slave owner."_

 _"Oh please,"_ Sonic goes off,  _"I've fought and lived through worse."_

Knuckles scowls. " _Nice knowing ya."_

_"Oh, don't be like that. You're just mad because you're in denial."_

_"Denial? Why I outta-"_

The spirit returns with a pair of scissors.

Sonic gives her that look again, and they're soon free from the binds. She grabs Sonic by the arm and tugs him along, leaving Knuckles behind.

A bad mistake on her part.

He turns and starts looking for a candle or something to light his way since his living flashlight was busy paying attention to some other lady. Was he jealous? An image of his dick shoved up Sonic's ass flashes through his mind, and he's blushing. Maybe he could face his feelings for Sonic, and just maybe they could be a thing. He had to admit that he really did enjoy what they just shared.

He shakes his head. "Not now, Knuckles. Get to the mission." Then he's off to save the townsfolk.

Sonic crawls overtop of the spirit who has manifested a physical form. She was very beautiful in her original state. She had white fur and not-as-long black hair, but her eyes were hazel, and her muzzle a light tan. For the first time, he realizes that she's a fox just like her late husband. Due to her horrifying manifestation of a ghost, it was hard to tell what she originally was. All anyone saw was scary and ugly. Now, her gorgeous eyelashes blink slowly at him as he closes in, and a hand runs up her side to her face. She's still abnormally cold to the touch. He cups her cheek and lets his thumb slide across her bottom lip. A puff of air leaves her, forming a small steam cloud.

 _'If I was straight, I probably would have hightailed it after her too,'_  he thinks to himself, keeping up his expert acting skills.  _'I hope Knuckles isn't too mad.'_

Mentioned echidna is yanking at the lock on the door to the hidden room where all the missing mobians were.

"You've come to save us?" A voice speaks up, earning a shush from their savior.

" _Shut up. You're not saved yet._ " He pries it off carefully, and opens the door. " _Everyone okay?_ "

The same guy takes Knuckles's hand since they couldn't see each other. " _Yes, thanks to you. Good heavens, I never thought we would get out of here alive."_

Knuckles scoffs. " _That's what our ghostly host thinks, but I have other plans, and they involve staying alive_."

Sonic kisses her sweetly, and runs a hand down along her breast. He stops there to squeeze it, and he has to question whether or not he likes this. Well, it doesn't take long to think about it as he pulls his hand away and continues to trail it down her stomach. Girls were still a foreign concept to him, but at least he liked them. This chick on the other hand wasn't even alive. Does this make him a necrophiliac? He stops  _that_ thought from ruining the moment. He'd rather not to be honest. He had to be the distraction.

Knuckles manages to find a way out through the hole in the ceiling leading to the shed. He hoists them all up one at a time, and tells them to get out of here and head back home. After thanking him for all his help, they run off.

Now what about Sonic?

When Knuckles heads back over to where they would be, Sonic is sitting on the bedside, and the ghost is right there with him in her natural mobian form, rubbing his back, and…comforting him? He decides to listen in on their conversation and hides behind an old couch.

"It's alright, darling. I understand," she tells Sonic who's apparently crying.

"No, you really don't. I'm afraid that if I tell him how I really feel, then he'll never wanna see me ever again. I can't afford to lose him, Scarlett. He's my best friend." He wipes tears from his eyes.

Anyone who really knew Sonic has seen his acting skills. They were impressive, and this time was no exception.

The sympathetic ghost continues to rub his back and occasionally scritch in between his shoulder blades. "It'll be fine. Trust me. Just say what your heart tells you to, and don't hold back. You'll feel a lot better if you tell him."

"Yeah, well," Sonic spots the top of Knuckles's head out of the corner of his eye. Thankfully she still has no idea. "You know what. I'm going to tell him."

Knuckles cringes.

"I'm going to tell him that I love him, because that's what my heart says."

Red thinks about that jar he saw earlier. What was in it? He decides to go back and investigate while Sonic goes on and on about his feelings.

Making his way back to it, Knux picks up the large jar and tries to look through it in the dim lighting.

Something was in it, but…what exactly?

Scarlett kisses the cobalt's cheek. "You're so handsome. I can't imagine he could resist you again. He loves you, blue hedgehog."

"You could be right." He notices Knuckles is gone, and wonders what's up. "I just hope he accepts me."

"He will," she assures with a smile.

"You know, I'm really sorry for breaking down and everything. I know you're like, trying to get pregnant and stuff, but I've just got a lot going on right now, and I feel kinda blue. Is it alright if I just have a minute?"

He only needed one.

She awe's. "Of course, dear. Take your time."

"Thanks." Sonic gets up and slowly walks away while she continues to sit on the bed. It seems as though when she's in her ghostly form she's more malevolent, and while in her mobian form, she chills out and acts normally.  _'Okay, so as long as I don't piss her off…'_

Sonic finally meets back up with Knuckles who holds up the jar. With a frown on his face, he hands it to the hedgehog who studies it. When Blue's about to turn the lid, a big hand stops him and then a finger wiggles back and forth. He takes the jar back and turns it on it's side revealing something horrific.

Looks like not only did the baby die too, but it was ripped from her dead body and preserved in a jar.

Quickly, Knuckles leads the way over to where he had helped the others escape.

This is when it clicks with the spirit that something's up, and she's suddenly ablaze with anger.

Hearing her scream, the two make their escape, and run out into the garden.

"Now what?!" Knuckles exclaims, holding out the jar.

"What?" Sonic exclaims back. "You mean to tell me you had no real plans with that thing?"

"Well, we've gotta do something about it!"

Her screams echo from the shed.

Knuckles hears Sonic say something, but was too busy to process it. "What?" he asks, turning to see the cobalt point to a spot in the garden.

"I said, look!"

Mushrooms.

"What about them?" the echidna asks, soon joining his side.

Sonic takes the jar from Knuckles and tells him to dig. Without questioning it, he does so, shredding through dry roots, rocks, and dirt. Soon, he comes across something oblong-shaped and pulls on it. A crack is heard, and he lifts it up to examine it. His blood runs cold.

"Quick! Uncover it!'

Knuckles snaps his head back with a crazy look in his eyes. "Are you kidding me?!"

A shriek pierces their ears, and Scarlett emerges. The two spot her and gasp.

Knuckles shuts up and digs.

Sonic smiles nervously at her. "Can we make it two minutes?"

When she lunges at the hedgehog, he tosses the jar at the shallow grave which hits the echidna in the back of the head before spinning and falling in. It breaks off a rock on the way down, and the baby's body rolls out and onto the skeleton's chest.

Knuckles quickly crawls out while trying not to vomit.

Meanwhile, Scarlett comes to a halt just in front of Sonic. She looks down to see a tiny ghost lying in her arms.

Her whole demeanor seems to shift, and she takes the form of her natural state. She studies the infant who opens his eyes for the first time. She inhales a shaky breath, and soon the ground beneath her begins to flourish with life, turning from grey and yellow to green and brown as the plants in the garden begin to grow and bloom.

Both Sonic and Knuckles turn every which way to witness the world around them come back to life. Though it was nighttime, the moonlight shined just enough to show the magic unravelling beneath them.

She begins to cry as her face buries into the baby's belly, earning a cheerful cry from the tiny pup.

"Looks like you won't be needing us after all!" Sonic says.

Knuckles face palms.

"Thank you," she says softly, looking up to the two who turn back to her.

"No problem." Blue nudges the echidna who rolls his eyes. "I'm glad you got your happy ending."

" _Can we get outta here now?_ " the guardian suggests quietly, and Sonic nods.

Before them, the two spirits fade away into dust before blowing away with the wind.

Sonic throws an arm around Knuckles, and the two start off into the night on their way back to Spagonia. They were sure the townsfolk would tell the villagers of Aurora of their rescue.

Deciding to get a place to sleep in Spagonia, the two craft an alibi for the events of their mission so that they could present it to the mayor in the morning.

* * *

Three weeks roll by, and a proud echidna lies peacefully under the Master Emerald on the floating Angel Island. He'd almost forgotten the events of their little ghost hunting mission if it weren't for one thing...

His communicator goes off, and he sits up, glaring at the device.

'Sonic' it read on the screen.

"Of course." Knuckles grumbles before answering it. "Sonic, I'm busy. What do you want?"

All he hears are sobs.

"Sonic?" he asks, concerned.

Realizing something was wrong, and caring deeply about his friend, he sets off to find Sonic. Since he wasn't saying what was wrong, Knuckles knew he had to go and talk to him himself.

It takes no time at all to get to his place, and he has him on the line the entire way there. He opens the door and walks inside, hearing the hedgehog ask where he was in both the communicator, and over in his bedroom down the hall.

"I'm here, Sonic," Knuckles tells him before hanging up. When he does, the door opens, and Sonic is standing in the way with a green face and a hand against his belly. "So tell me what's wrong."

"I'm pregnant."

Knuckles pales.

"...and you're the father…"

Red doesn't know what to say until he questions it. "I thought you were a dude?"

"I guess I'm both?" It sounded more like a question than a statement.

Knuckles has his doubts. "You're not just pulling my leg are you?"

Sonic takes his hand away from his stomach to show off a little bump. "Do I look like I am?"

"Shit." He didn't mean to say that out loud. "Well…"

Emerald eyes beg amethyst for acceptance.

This was all too sudden, but the echidna really didn't have any other choice. He walks in, and wraps his arms around the hero, burying his nose into the crook of his blue neck.

This earns him a sigh of relief from the hedgehog who hugs him back.

 _This_  was a whole new adventure for another time.


End file.
